almsman

Latin, elemonsinarius.

An almsman was a royal clerk or priest whose service for his holdingwas rendered in prayers. In several countiesthe king's almsmen were listed together in collective fiefswhich were occasionally devoted entirely to royal priests, but more often grouped with other minor tenants-in-chiefgenerally under the heading of royal thanesor sergeants.
Their holdings were often well-endowed minster churches, many on royal
estates. A few of these almsmen held several of these minsters in
plurality, placing them among the wealthier landholders in the country.

The royal almsmen included some distinguished royal officials, notably Reinbald of Cirencester, the first known chancellorof England, and Ranulf Flambard, future bishop of Durham, chief minister of William Rufus and according to one thesis the master-mindbehind Domesday Book.

For more detail on royal almsmen, see John Blair, 'Secular minster churches in Domesday Book', Domesday Book: a reassessment, edited by Peter H. Sawyer (1985), pages 104-42; and John Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society (2005), chapter 6.